A Criminal in the Making
by Miss Abbie Marie
Summary: A.J. gets arrested. Her mom disowns her. Now a ward of the court, she is shipped to the Juvenile Academy. It is nicknamed Vampire Academy for some reason, and she is determined to find out. She meets Rose and the gang and fits in like the missing piece to their puzzle. Officer Dimitri could handle Rose, but can he handle both of them at the same time? PLEASE R&R. All Human.


**Chapter 1**

Simon Says? You're Under Arrest

Snowflakes twirled and flew in the wind, some resting upon my nose and melting into microscopic sheets of water. I was walking to Avery's house with nothing on but a black hoodie and a pair of old gloves. My hot pink Adidas bag was slung over my shoulder. On my way there, I watched people shoveling slush into great big snow banks near the ends of their driveways, and then walking into nice, warm houses. I was jealous. Avery had called earlier today asking if I wanted to go to the movies and spend the night, and since I really don't get out much, I graciously accepted. It was just a really long walk. I'm sure my mom would have driven me… but she was at 'work'.

Avery lived in the gigantic brick townhouse on Cardwell Drive. There were large mounds of snow perfectly and beautifully perched up on her roof, and her windows were caked in a thin layer of frost. I was afraid to walk up her pathway, not wanting to mess up the perfection with my dirty combat boot footprints. So I stood there, just waiting at the bottom of her driveway. I waited, and waited for someone to see me, and let me into the house, but had no luck. Being as bored and freezing as I was, I pulled out my Mp3 player, shoved my headphones on, and sat down where I was standing. I was about half way through "Thanks for the Memories." By Fall Out Boy before I heard the faint sound of someone yelling my name. "AJ! Aaaaa Jaayyy!" As soon as I looked up, I saw Avery scrambling down her driveway straight towards me. I guess _she _had no problem with messing up the snow.

I slowly got up and put my Mp3 away. We stood there for a minute, an awkward silence between us. Hey- I had no clue what to say. I was just an average girl who lived in a really run-down house with her mom. I mean, she was a rich girl from a really nice neighborhood. In fact, it was a gated community, and I had to sneak under a chain-link fence in the middle of nowhere just to get in since no one told me the "Code of the Week." Plus- she was the most popular girl in school, and I was the biggest loner R.D. Webster High school had ever seen. Avery and I had absolutely nothing in common. And we probably never would. In fact, I had no clue why I came over anyway. But I was stuck there, and leaving would be really hard since I couldn't remember where that opening in the fence was.

After the awkward silence passed Avery asked me to follow her up to her house. I felt that a bit of sarcasm was necessary to lighten up the mood, so I said, "No. I'm just going to sit back at the end of your driveway and make a snow angel." I was using my best sarcastic voice, and for some reason, that silly popular girl took me seriously. She laid down in the middle of the driveway, and began moving her arms and legs in and out to make an angel. She was only wearing a pair of silk pajamas, and must have been going numb from the cold snow. I felt kind of bad about it, and fell back into the thick snow to make one with her. She looked at me and smiled, but that was about it. We must've laid there for at least 10 minutes. Since she wasn't going to move, I decided to break the ice. Literally. I picked up a handful of snow, rounded it, and threw it at an icicle hanging off of Avery's oversized porch. Then, I made another one and chucked it at her. She sat up in the snow after this, and kind of pouted. Gosh- this girl was so _sensitive._ Didn't she know how to take a joke, or have fun?

I was just about to turn around and head back down the driveway when I was tackled to the ground. My face was immediately plunged into the snow. My first thoughts were "Oh God, it burns!" And seconds after that, "Why is snow _so cold?!_" My eyes were slowly beginning to tear up, and my whole face was numb. And then, when I cried, it felt like my face was melting off. I would describe myself as feeling like a wax statue that was sitting in a tub of ice water, slowly being melted by a hairdryer. Icy melted snow streaming down your face, combined with hot tears. It was horrible. I had thrown hundreds of snowballs with my neighborhood friends, and gotten hit in the face plenty of times… but my face was never shoved directly into the snow. I hoped it would never happen again. After the numbness went away, it was just a tingly-burning type thing. So I ripped my wet gloves off my hands and rubbed them on my face, desperately hoping that the gloves would make me warm.

Avery gave me a tight hug, and she said she'd make hot chocolate to make it up to me. With extra mini marshmallows and whipped cream. We were beginning to head back up her driveway, when I caught a glimpse of red and blue flashing lights heading down the street. Avery huffed, "Probably the neighbors. There's a couple that lives in that house," she pointed at a yellow three story Victorian, "and they never stop arguing. The wife always calls the police, and they come out and settle things." Much to our surprise, the cruiser didn't stop at the yellow house. It wasn't that far away from Avery's… it was two houses down actually. Another house went by… until it was very obvious where the cop car was headed. Straight for Avery's house. She looked at me, and I looked at her, both of us wondering what was going on. I hadn't done anything illegal lately, had I? Well, when a handsome, young officer with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes looked straight at me, and then said something into his walkie-talkie, it was pretty clear that I had. He stepped out of the car, and walked towards us. "Young lady, I'm going to have to ask you to stand near the car, and put your hands on your head." Sarcasm was my best friend in these situations, and so was running. I quickly said, "How about this, officer. We will play Simon says. Simon says _you _go stand by the car and put your hands on your head. I'm going to go for a nice run." And I took off at full speed. I ran down the street and made it about half way before I was slammed into the pavement. The handsome officer came really close to my ear, and whispered, "Simon says resisting arrest won't help your case. Now put your hands over your head and stay down." I didn't put my hands on my head, and he gave me a very annoyed look. I retorted with, "Well Officer Dickhead, you didn't say Simon Says. I win." His face was immediately flushed with anger. "I'm the one with a taser, a gun, and pepper-spray. _I_ win." He moved, and took each of my hands and shoved them roughly into a pair of shiny metal handcuffs. Then he picked me up off the ground, and walked me all the way back to his car. Avery was just standing in her driveway watching it all.

"Up against the car. Now." He ordered me. I just stood defiantly where he had me standing. Now, this guy wasn't making any sense. He handcuffed me, walked me all the way to his car, and didn't just put me up against the car in the first place? Well, nothing made much sense right now anyway. Since I didn't move, he did it for me. I was slammed up against the hood of his car and patted down. Then, he picked my bag up off of the driveway, and emptied its contents onto the cruiser's hood next to me. I tried to remember what I had in there. Let's see; there was a pair of plaid flannel pajama pants, 4 different colored t-shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, my toothbrush, some toothpaste, face-wash, some make-up, socks, and… 3 pairs of underwear. How fucking embarrassing. Lastly, there were some Marlbro Light 100's, and my hot pick lighter. He picked the last two things up, and shoved them at me. "Can I ask why a young girl like you is carrying around cigarettes?" Why did he need to know? Because it was illegal? Who gave a shit? I paid for them. It was embarrassing to have to tell people why I was 15 and smoked. But I guess I had to, right?

"I have anxiety issues." I whispered.

He got closer to my face. "What was that? Can you speak a little louder?" He asked harshly.

Fine, if he wanted me to be loud I could do that. So I screamed at the top of my lungs, "I HAVE ANXIETY ISSUES." I watched as he cringed from the magnitude of my voice.

"It's still illegal. You shouldn't. Now, whose clothes did you steal?"

"No ones, dipshit." I hissed at him. Yeah, because I totally steal thrift store clothes, toothpaste, and used underwear.

"Oh, really? Is that why you broke into a gated community?"

"I was invited here."

"If you were 'invited here' you wouldn't have had to sneak under a fence. Someone would have told you the guest code. And you would have gotten in easily."

"Don't believe me? Look at the girl behind you. She was the one who told me to come over and spend the night." I knew Avery could get me out of this. It was all just a big misunderstanding, right?

He glanced back, finally getting his chocolate donut breath out of my face. But he didn't begin to walk away towards Avery. Instead, he started reading me my rights. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?" I nodded slowly. He walked me to the back of the cop car, opened the door, set me down inside, and buckled me in with a very tight seat belt.

Through the metal screen that separated the back from the front, I looked out of the windshield. Avery was nowhere to be seen. I began shaking like a leaf. These were the types of situations that really affected my anxiety. I began to cry. Silently. No need to let Mr. Handsome and Incredibly Strong Cop hear me cry like a baby. I knew that the jail was about an hours' drive away, but since I was only 15, I'd be taken to the juvenile detention facility. And that was three hours away. The nearest one wasn't in my town. It was in Los Angeles. Just the thought of three long hours completely restrained in the back of a cop car made me sob harder than I ever had. I couldn't help it. Who cared if he heard me? My life was over. Knowing my anxiety, it would be just minutes before I started to wheeze, and hyperventilate, and eventually puke and pass out.

I knew this, because it had happened on multiple accounts. First time was when I was 5 and my mom left me at school for the first time. I thought she would never come back to get me. Second time, I was 10 and my dad left. It happened every single night for two weeks. Even in the hospital since my mom hospitalized me the 3rd night it happened. The next time was when I was 14 and my boyfriend of 2 years broke up with me. And we were going onto the 4th round of complete hysteria. I yelled at the cop to pull over. He didn't. It wasn't until I began to breathe really heavily and take short breaths that he pulled over to the shoulder of the road, and parked the car. My vision was going in and out, and I could feel the bile rising in my throat. As soon as he opened the car door, I turned my head to look at him and puked on his shoes. And his pants. And a little bit on the bottom of his shirt. I was pissed off at this guy, but I didn't want to do that. Honestly. The last thing I remembered before blacking out, was him unbuckling me, dragging my almost limp body out of the cruiser, and taking the handcuffs half-way off.

When I woke up, I was in an ambulance. There were 3 paramedics surrounding me, and two people I didn't recognize. The cop was nowhere to be seen. Good. That bastard should've listened, _before _I barfed on him. The first person I noticed was a girl. She looked about 16 or 17. She had dark brown hair, and looked really strong. Seriously. I wouldn't doubt that this girl could snap me in half like a twig. The person standing next to her was a guy. He had shoulder length brown hair… and he was really handsome. One hand was interlaced with the girl's, and one hand was? Holding more handcuffs. These were both cops? They didn't exactly look like it. Neither of them were in uniform… but that didn't matter. I was completely fucked.

The cop quietly murmured something to the paramedics, and they said something back. I could somewhat make out what they were saying. "Breathing regularly… I.V… ta-… out. Good to go." And then, they undid the straps securing me to the gurney, removed my oxygen mask, took out my I.V., and handed the attractive man a slip of paper. I'm guessing it was a prescription. They spoke.

The man said, "My name is Officer Dimitri. You will address me as that, and that only. You have been transferred into the custody of the State. You are a juvenile delinquent, and you will be treated as one. Now, get onto your stomach, and put each of your hands on your head." I didn't do it. How did I know that he wasn't just some crazy kidnapper who found his way into the back of my ambulance? Well, I guess I didn't have to do it, because he did it for me. I was flipped onto my stomach, my hands were cuffed, and I was yanked off of the bed, all in about 30 seconds. I got dragged out of the ambulance, tears streaming down my cheeks from fear, and the girl? She didn't even flinch. Instead of a regular cruiser, there was a van. We walked behind it, and Officer Dimitri opened up the huge metal doors. After this, he had to unlock and push aside a wall of bars, and after that, push up a metal screen. No chance of escape here, huh? He helped me step up, and sat me down on a hard steel bench. There were two hooks. One on the wall, which my handcuffs were promptly attached to, and one on the floor. There was a metal cabinet built into this van. He unlocked it, and opened it, only to reveal a shitload of chains. He took out a long string of them. One was looped around my waist, and connected to my ankles. Then, these were hooked to the floor. The girl stared at me. There was nothing menacing about her. She actually looked a little bit scared.

I understood why quickly though. Dimitri said to her, "I know you don't like it, but I have to. It's procedure and I can get fired if I don't." So, she got onto the floor of the van solemnly. He did to her, exactly what he did to me. Handcuffs, leg irons, hooks, and all. Then, he locked up everything, and left. It was dark in there, and I couldn't move. I cried, and as soon as I let one little whimper escape, the girl talked to me.

"It's not so bad, you know. I mean, I guess it could be worse."

I whispered, "What could be worse than this? I don't know what's going on at all. Who are you anyway?"

"My name's Rosemarie Hathaway. Everyone calls me rose. Who are you?"

"Allison Jane Bell. Everyone just calls me AJ. I thought you were another cop… you were holding hands with Officer Dimitri."

"No. He's just had to arrest me a lot… and we kind of have a thing going when he's not working. I can fill you in on what's going on if you want…"

"That'd be great." I nodded in thanks. As if she could see me through the dark anyway."

She took a deep breath. "We are wards of the state. We were disowned by our parents as soon as they got a call from the cops. We're headed to one of two places. Juvie, or the Court Academy. It's called Vampire Academy as a nickname. I'm not sure why. I'm in my senior year there. The judge usually sentences you to one full year there, and gives you the summer to prove to him that you don't have to go back. I fuck up every summer, Dimitri arrests me, and things run their course."

"So… how many times have you been in the back of this van?" I asked.

"Far too many. But to give you an estimate, I'd say 7 or 8 times."

"Wow. That's a lot. But the academy doesn't sound too bad." Really, it didn't. It would just be like boarding school, probably.

I could somewhat make-out Rose shaking her head in the dark. "Well, little girl, you're in for a rude awakening. That academy is worse than any jail I've ever been to. In regular school, you get into a fight, and you get suspended right?"

She was right, but where could she be going with this? "Uh huh. Sure."

"Get into a fight at the academy? You fucking get pepper-sprayed, cuffed, and put in solitary for a week. And if you make a suicidal comment? Straitjackets, mental wards, padded cells, and 6 months of therapy. And if you fail 1 class, you don't get your summer vacation. But you do get another year at the academy."

Okay, big deal. I'd just be good. "I'll be fine. Besides, my mom will miss me and want me back home anyway."

I could feel Rose's eyes glaring at me through the dark. "Mommy dearest can't take you out of the academy. Not until the last day of school. The cops will call her. If she doesn't want you back at home, you get to spend the summer in Juvie. If she does, you go home, and you hopefully don't come back."

"Whatever. You don't even know if we're getting sent to the academy. And shouldn't you be there already? It's the middle of winter."

"They always send people like you there. And I ran. Like half an hour ago. They caught up to me quick. I'm just lucky they sent Dimitri. So… you were in an ambulance when he arrested you?" Her voice sounded puzzled.

"Oh, yeah. I have anxiety issues. I've never been arrested and I was kind of a smart ass with the cop… and this rich girl abandoned me when she could have helped me out… I can't handle shit like this. The only reason I'm alright right now is because of all the meds they put into my system."

"You were arrested before you were in the ambulance?"

"Yeah. Can we just drop it? I puked on the other cop, and passed out in the middle of the road after he dragged me out of the car. And why are we fucking hooked to the floor?!" I kind of exploded at Rose. She kept bombarding me with stupid questions. She'd figure things out soon enough!

"Okay, okay. Calm down. And so that we don't slip and slide around. It's not that bad."

"It's not that bad? It's horrible! I didn't even mean to do anything illegal! And my mom is such a physco bitch that she'd do anything to get rid of me anyway. This was just her perfect opportunity," I took a small breath and let a few silent tears slide down my cheeks, "and when I said she'd want me back? It was a lie. I was just trying to make myself feel better. She will never want me back. I'm going to be just like you. Spending my whole teenage life in that prison of an academy!"

Rose didn't say anything. At first, I thought it was because she was surprised at what I had said… but it was actually because the van had slowed down and come to a stop. I had no idea what would happen when those bars, screens, and doors slide open… or even when these chains would come off. I didn't know if I'd have my own clothes shipped to me… or if I'd have to look like a carbon copy of everyone else. In fact, there were a lot of things that I didn't know. So, when those doors slid open, I was definitely surprised at what I saw.

**Chapter 2**

**Simon Says? Welcome Home!**

Nurses everywhere. Three cops. Blinding lights getting shined in my eyes every 3 seconds, people tugging on my chains… "GET AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed. Everyone stopped to look at me for a moment, and then returned to what they were doing. This really pissed me off. I was supposed to be in some jail type academy, right? And I had my moment in the ambulance. I was fine! A little bit shaken up… of course, but fine otherwise! It was overwhelming. Two men lifted the shackles from their hooks, and yanked me off the bench. Where was Rose? I didn't see her anywhere. There was no time to look for her. I was shuffled out of the back of the van, sort of free, but sort of not. No more handcuffs or anything… but tons of hands all over me. Holding me, patting me down, starting to remove my shirt…

"STOP! _STOP IT! STOP! PLEASE!" _ Everything came to halt. Finally, someone was listening.

A kind-looking middle-aged woman sauntered over to me. She signaled for everyone to back up, and she spoke to me in a very soothing voice. "Sweetie, it's part of procedure. Your clothes could carry disease. It is winter, you know."

I could understand, but we were still outside. Wouldn't we be inside getting new clothes? Wouldn't that just make more sense? I mentioned this to her, and a wave of concern washed over her petite face. She grabbed my hand, and looked me dead in the eye.

"We _are_ inside dear. We've _been_ inside. For a few minutes actually," She took a quick glance down at her clipboard. Had she been holding that the whole time? "It says here that your name is Allison Jane Bell. Is that correct?"

I nodded. I looked around the room. White. Cold white. Sterile white. The kind of white that was clean, and blinding, and menacing. I couldn't believe I didn't know we had been in there. My medical conditions caused me to get sick, and pass out… but never really black out while I was still conscious. Maybe it was a one time thing.

"Allison Jane is a beautiful name. My name is Dr. Oldendzki. I'll be here to help you every time you get sick here at the academy. I think right now you are just in shock. Your record says you suffer from Anxiety?"

Again, I only nodded. I felt like as soon as I spoke, my words would tumble out in a jumble. And if my words collapsed, so would I. She was right. I was probably just in shock. I couldn't handle anything. If anyone touched me again, I would probably scream.

She started talking again. It seemed like she paused, just so that I could finish what I had been thinking. "Listen- I'm going to cut to the chase with you. This place? It's not gentle. Your anxiety? It's going to be a constant problem. What's happening to you right now? I can break it down if you want."

I shook my head. No words, no jumble. No collapsing. Nothing. She would explain to me what was happening, and I'd hopefully have time to calm down, and regain control over my mind and body.

"Most of what's going on will be explained at orientation. But the basics are that you will be assigned a room. You will have one roommate. It is basically like any other boarding school, but there are definitely consequences to whatever landed you here. It will be explained. We have to get you a few prescriptions. And usually new students are immediately assigned a room, but you are going to stay in the psychiatric ward under watch tonight."

No more contained words. My jaw probably hit the floor then and there. "Why?!" I shouted at her.

"Anxiety is not a joking matter. We need to know that you are stable enough to be around other peers. You'll be directed back here after orientation," she looked at the clock on the wall, "which starts in just a few minutes!" She led me to the door, and when she peeked out, she asked a tall, well-built officer if he could show me to the auditorium. He had his back turned to her at first, but when he turned around to face Dr. Olendzki, I lost my breath. It was Officer Dimitri. The very man who arrested me was feet away. Or at least the second man anyway.

"Ummm," I stammered out, "Maybe I could just test my luck and find it myself?"

A look of disapproval shadowed both of their faces, and then reconsideration. Dr. Olendzki seemed more on my side than Dimitri, and she was of course, the first one to speak. "Well, I'm sure you can't wait to find your way around the school… and as long as you don't try to pull anything, I really don't see the harm in it. As long as you're there in 3 minutes, and—" Dimitri cut her off.

"Maybe another time, but orientation is very important. Not to mention, she has to be back here after it's over anyway. I'll take her, and bring her back. She can explore after we know she's stable."

She agreed with him, and he grabbed me roughly by the wrist, and dragged me away from her blinding office. I screamed as loud as I could, and my ear-piercing voice made him stop dead in his tracks. I smiled at my success.

His face had drained of its color. "What _the hell _was _that_? What are you smiling at?"

"I don't want anyone touching me, asshole. Keep your damn distance." I spat on his shoes.

He reached for something in his pockets, and I was kind of nervous at what he pulled out. First, was a black mesh thingy? What was he going to with that? My question was immediately answered when he secured it around my head.

"Bell, if you try to take it off, I'm going to cuff you. And you've already got yourself a demerit." I hadn't exactly noticed his sexy, and thick Russian accent. Wow. I kind of felt embarrassed. What I was guessing was a spit mask was on my head… and I was being paraded around like an idiot by the sexiest man alive.

The second thing he pulled out was a notebook. He wrote down my demerit. Things just weren't going my way. And why did I spit on him? It's like I just became an instant badass. What happened to quiet, harmless, A.J. Bell who never wanted any trouble from anyone or anything? I guess she disappeared as soon as the cops showed up at Avery's house.

Gosh, Avery sure was a bitch. She was just another popular girl, one who had everything and still loved to make everyone else's life a living hell, right? She couldn't just stay in her driveway, and explain to the cop that it was all a big misunderstanding and that I was invited there… no. That would've been too easy, right? She had to go back inside the house, and leave me at the mercy of the cops. If I ever went back home, and back to my old school, I would never forgive her.

While I was busy getting all worked up in my thoughts, Dimitri had been leading me through the winding halls. We were stopped in front of two huge metal doors. He looked at me. "I'm going to do you a favor Allison. This mask is going to come off, and although I'm very tempted to go in there with you, and keep this mask on, I don't want to embarrass you in front of all of your new peers." He removed the mask quickly, and shoved me through the double doors.

I scrambled to find a seat. I didn't want to be one of those people who awkwardly stands there, surveying the room for 20 minutes before actually sitting down. Not to mention, I was already a few minutes late because of my little fracas in the halls with Officer Dipshit. I just picked a seat in the front, next to a really innocent looking blonde girl. The woman who was up on stage talking gave me a very stern look. I assumed that she was the principal… or the warden. Whatever she was, she already hated me. The woman was slim, had thin grey hair, and reminded me of something. I turned to the girl next to me, and quietly said, "Doesn't she remind you of something? Like a bird?" The blonde girl shook her head in agreement, but didn't say anything. However, the girl next to her piped up. "She reminds me of a vulture. She loves to give lectures. Be prepared. She stopped as soon as you walked in. Thank you for dooming us all. Now, she's just going to start again and be even angrier." The girl was just about to give me the middle finger, which I really didn't feel I deserved, but stopped when she saw my face. "Hey—it's you! You were the girl in the back of the van with me! Allison Jane, right?" Why did everyone insist on using that name? It didn't even flow! "Call me A.J." I said quietly.

Soon after we stopped talking, the vulture began her lecture. "Now that _all of us_ are here," she said, her grey eyes glaring coldly at me, "I guess we can begin. My name is Warden Kirova. I am _not _anything _but_ your warden. You will address me as such. You are all here for one of three reasons. You have committed a crime against your community, and are being punished. Your parents disowned you due to your lack of obedience, or your earlier crimes. Lastly, you could be here because you are mentally unstable and unable to function in a normal community. Some of you," again, she stared at me, "are here for all of the above."

There was a short pause, and a lot of whispering. I was kind of afraid to talk to the girl next to me, so I kept my thoughts to myself. Why was this _vulture_ as Rose calls her, constantly targeting me? I didn't exactly do anything wrong on purpose! This was all a big misunderstanding! I'm sure that's what everyone says, right? But mine really was. So what if I snuck under that fence? It wasn't as if I was going to break into a house and steal something. And what even happened in the first place? When was I even sentenced? I guess it didn't really matter. I was stuck here now.

She continued. "This is no normal school. There are consequences to your actions everywhere you turn. Your day will start at 4:00 every morning. You will go to the cafeteria for a 10 minute breakfast, and then you will be in your first period class by 4:30. Each class is 2 hours long. You have 8 classes. Lunch is between 3rd and 4th period. Your classes are English, Algebra, Biology or Chemistry, Gym, History, Government, Civil Obedience, and Home economics. By the time they are over, it will be 8:00. You may have noticed that you have a longer day and more classes than the average school. Don't bother complaining. You are in a Juvenile Detention Facility. You should have expected as much."

Looking around the room, I saw several more mouths drop open. Everyone was in complete shock. I knew the lecture wasn't over yet. I sat in silence, just waiting.

"After your classes are over, you will have dinner, and after dinner, you will return to your rooms. The doors will be locked, and they won't open again until 4:00 the next morning. Your rooms have a conjoined bathroom, and a small kitchenette. There is only a microwave and a mini fridge. Snacks will be purchased with your own money, which is either sent from home or not there at all." There was more coming…

"A lot of you in this room are thinking, 'Oh my gosh! This place is the best! We have mini fridges and microwaves in our bedrooms!' but don't get too excited. You can only have a few _approved_ items in the fridge at a time. The microwave can only be used with the permission of one of the Officers on duty, and has a very low power supply. Most things such as popcorn can't even be made." A look of pure disappointment crossed the faces of many of my peers. Rose however, was just staring blankly at Warden Kirova. None of this seemed to surprise her. Maybe because she had been there for so many years?

"Lastly, you will be issued a set of clothes, a pair of pajamas, 5 sets of undergarments, and a roommate. I want to see Allison Jane Bell in my office," she said, "_immediately!"_ Great. More trouble. Not only was I supposed to be there immediately, but I had no idea where it was in the first place! Maybe if I found Dimitri, and he didn't try to yank my wrist off? He could probably help me out. I made my way into the crowd, and looked around for him.

There were too many people all over the place. I was pretty sure he was somewhere among this sea of people. "Dimitri! Dimitri! Where are you?" I saw one of his large, masculine hands rise over everyone's head. I pushed through to where he stood. Out of breath, I gasped, "I'm sorry about… earlier… I didn't mean… to spit… on you." He looked at me, just for a moment, there was this strange glimmer in his eyes. Forgiveness maybe? But it disappeared as soon as it came. "You will address me as _Officer _Dimitri. I should give you another demerit for the way you just addressed me, but it's not going to do you any good. It seems like you have enough on your plate right now. I already dismissed your other demerit." At first, I was grateful to him. But as soon as he tried ripping my arm out of its socket for the second time, I was back at hating him. It hurt when he fucking tugged on me like that!

"Do you _mind?_" I hissed through my gritted teeth.

"You need to get back to the clinic."

"You need to stop trying to rip off my limbs, jackass." Fuck! What did I just say to him? I didn't mean to… it kind of just slipped out….

Anger flashed in those soft chocolate eyes. He turned to me quickly, holding my shoulders, "I don't allow Roza to swear, and you most definitely aren't going to either!"

"Who's Roza? Are you talking about Rose?" I was a little bit confused… I mean, I knew they had a thing going, but I figured it was probably something small… usually you only gave passionate nicknames to people that you were seriously in love with. And they couldn't be seriously in love… there was a 7 year age difference. Somehow, that didn't matter right now. I needed to get to Warden Kirova's office. Something important could be happening. And if I was going to be locked in the Psychiatric Ward all night, I kind of needed to know what was going on.

Dimitri didn't bother to answer my question. He just said, "Come on Allison. Don't drag your feet!"

Was I dragging me feet? Oh, maybe that was because _I had places to be._ "Dimitri! Let go! Warden Kirova needs me in her office! Right now! Didn't you hear her while I was in the auditorium?"

Another angry look flashed like a lightning bolt in his eyes. "_Officer _Dimitri. That's the second time. And you need to go back to the clinic. _Right now._"

That asshole ignored me. Warden Kirova sounded pissed when she said that she wanted me in her office. _Officer_ Dimitri probably just got me into a shitload of trouble. The joke was on me this time. "Simon Says, welcome home." I whispered quietly to myself.


End file.
